Question Number: 28733

Mechanics 9/15/2014

RE: Rec Adult

Mitch of Ottawa, Ontario Canada asks...

I recently awarded a penalty and one of the defending players yelled that I gave a penalty 'against the black team'. I only verbally admonished the player and told him that I would write him up (which I did: I submitted a special incident report).

In retrospect I should have dismissed him from the match because I believe that he used 'offensive and insulting language'.

What is your opinion of both my action and intention?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mitch
If you deemed the player to have used offensive, insulting or abusive language then he should have been dismissed from the game and shown a red card. It is your opinion as to what constitutes offensive, insulting and abusive. The referee then writes up a sending off report which details what happened and what was said and the player will be further sanctioned by the competition organisers. Leagues have zero tolerance on racist comments and there is a lengthy suspension for such a sending off. In our Leagues it is a minimum of five games.
The competition organisers will be surprised that you sent in a special incident report yet took no action against the player on the day. I'm unsure what action the League can take when the player has not been sent off? Obviously the League will think that it must not have been "serious" enough to merit a sending off and perhaps as a result may not take any further action.
If it did not merit a dismissal then it should either have been a verbal admonishment or a caution for dissent and that was the end of the matter.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Mitch,

The question I would ask (and I'd expect the judiciary to ask this as well) is - if it's serious enough to report, why wasn't it serious enough to deal with on the field of play?

As a referee you have tools at your disposal including cards - and a comment could be considered Unsporting Behaviour, or OFFINABUS.

The only sort of incident that could warrant being reported without being sanctioned on the field would be one relating to competition rules (such as, revealing advertising on underclothes in a professional competition).

Whether the comment in question was racist could be a matter for debate; I firmly believe that accusing the referee of racism is, itself, racism - and worth of a red card. However, there's a difference between saying that you gave a penalty 'against the black team' and that you 'only penalised him because he's black'. The latter would receive marching orders from me without hesitation.

The former...well, I'm scratching my head working out what it means. Is he accusing your of racism? Is he saying you're harsher on them because of skin colour? Is the reference to colour itself racist (in my view, not necessarily, though others may disagree)? I'm having a hard time understanding what the comment means - but perhaps it would have made more sense if I was there on the day.

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Hi Mitch,
well like any good referee who is trying to get better, you are analyzing what you did post match!
Thanks for trusting us to answer your question but I will respond with a query of my own. I fully expect the league you answer to will be coming back for a more detailed explanation and some critical comments as to why if the incident report is being submitted you took no action on the field? Plus the match result and the misconduct can no longer be easily dealt with since play was permitted to restart and no action was taken.

We all been there, done that, enjoyed the good, withstood the bad. It might seem inconsequential to some but properly prepared written reports on facts regarding play formulate the entire basis of understanding when review committees have to go over situational circumstances that they HAVE NOT NOR EVER WILL SEE! It is an art form, unfortunately not often taken seriously because the referee is usually not the one dealing with the repercussions.

You received a set of answers responding to the situation and circumstances of a scenario you provided, by several wise and experienced referees. As you can tell by the responses we are unclear as to the EXACT circumstances of your situation.

Each panel referee who donates their time and energy in answering a question does so with integrity and compassion. We all support the LOTG with equal fervour but within each response is our own unique character signature!

Aside from dispensing information, this site enjoys a privileged position where we can and do try to hold those who ask questions, referees in particular, to a higher standard because as a job we strive to be professional in our efforts at every level of the game be it the u little's, recreational, high school, college, adult, semi pro, pro or World Cup.

We encourage the young officials, in fact any referee, to think for themselves, to deliberate carefully when and especially after performing their duties! To remember that a referee is an ambassador to the game away from the field as much as on it!

You might think it odd to be critiqued for a simple question you wanted answered but ask yourself, what value do you gain if those that claim to offer assistance do not provide due diligence in dispensing what they believe is useful or helpful information?

You are not being singled out but you are being challenged to become a better referee. We believe our mandate is to encourage better understanding, better relationships' between those that make up the game; -the fans, - the coaches, - the players, - the parents, and by forcing referees to consider the, What ifs? and how their actions translate into the well being of any match, prior, during and post.

I think you should reprocess all the information and resubmit a report in greater detail and clarity so every one can follow exactly the circumstances as if they were watching there with you! At such and such time I awarded a PK to ??? team for ??? . This action created dissent. I was forced to deal with? Ask yourself to detail the event in chronological sequence what was said, who said, why was it said, where was it said, when was it said, how was it said? The culprit was a defender he said EXACTLY
in my opinion this constituted OFFINABUS because it was in my opinion a racial slur veiled reference at my character their character etc///but I choose only to tell him he was out of line and continued on with the PK .I chose to submit this report because I feel I did not properly address his actions at the time. etc...

We do hope to hear from you again and look forward to rendering what ever assistance we can!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mitch,

I do not like the way you approached this. Leaves much unanswered and open to a pitfall of troubles in my opinion. WAS there a clear racist comment being made? A thinly veiled racist comment or a simple dissenting comment based on misfortune? Was it fully direct at you? At the other team? In my opinion it needs to be explained better so those who do apply the sanctions have credible Intel to act upon. Plus if you felt a special incident report was required, why is this guy on the field? What was the temperament and tone of the match? What was the match atmosphere like based on your decision not to card or send off? Did you notice any changes in the way the rest of the match unfolded?

Players often say stupid things in the heat of dissent. As a referee we can deflect a lot of flack as simply a release of steam but a solid direct slander or a personal public persistent spiel should always be addressed. This was a one time blurp! Yet it prompted you to write an incident report and I can see you are having second thoughts about what you did and why. That is good, Any referee worth his salt reflects on the match in the post game.

When players say stupid stuff that I cannot simply let slide I will call them out on it and just possibly give them an opportunity to retract their belligerent stance, notice I said possibly. As in all things, each set of circumstances are judged on their own merit and as for the referee well he has his tools at his disposal to make the fixes as required, his match, his decision, his reputation!
Cheers